Focusing on sustainability in Italy

A small town located 25 miles northeast of Rome, Passo Corese is renowned for its delicious olive oil used by chefs at some of the finest restaurants across Europe. It’s a place where olive groves are still owned by local families and olives are harvested by hand – and is home to Amazon’s new fulfillment center, FC01, that also happens to be one of the company’s most sustainable buildings in Europe.

“

Amazon can put our scale and inventive culture to work on sustainability while growing our workforce and operations to serve customers in this country – while investing in our communities and our associates.

FCO1 is a robotics site where Amazon associates use the latest technology to fulfill customer orders throughout Italy. The site is certified as “Very Good” by BREEAM standards – a leading sustainability assessment method for infrastructure and buildings.

Spanning 65,000 square meters, the building is highly energy efficient, with LED lighting and a building management system that conserves energy throughout the day. There are a number of electric vehicle charging stations outside the main entrance, as well as a bus shuttle service to help associates with their daily commute. Water conservation methods are in place throughout the building, including a closed water system that generates heats during the cold winter season.

Amazon opened its doors in Passo Corese in September 2017 with 400 associates hired mostly from neighboring towns, and with the local community and the environment top of mind. The most intriguing features of this Amazon building? The budding olive grove and soon-to-be-grown community garden that surround it. Newly planted olive and Judas trees along with the vegetable garden and 50 beehives for honey production will be used as a teaching garden for local high school students, and one day will provide a bounty of produce for the chef at the Amazon canteen. Inside the fulfillment center at lunchtime, handmade pasta, local produce, meats, and cheeses are served daily – as Italians recognize and celebrate fresh food as key to a healthy life.

“Our fulfillment center in Passo Corese proves a powerful point,” notes Salvatore Schembri Volpe, GM of the building. “Amazon can put our scale and inventive culture to work on sustainability while growing our workforce and operations to serve customers in this country – while investing in our communities and our associates. Everyone wins.”

After their son Diamo passed away, Samiya and Naveed Parvez turned their grief into a force for change. Today, London-based tech startup Andiamo is revolutionizing the approach to healthcare devices for disabled children.